There are only a few places in the world where you can hike from spectacular ocean beaches to glacier-capped mountains in a day. US hikers travel long distances to visit some: Norway’s fjords, New Zealand’s dense bush. For a shorter, but no less spectacular, trip, add Washington to your list. At Olympic National Park, where lush temperate rainforest bridges the gap between peaks and sea stacks, you don’t have to choose between a mountain vacation and a seaside one. See it all on these spectacular short hikes.

Best Dayhikes in Olympic National Park

Whether you’re just taking a day trip from Seattle or prefer to spend your vacation nights in one of the Olympic Peninsula’s many rental cabins (this is, after all, one of the rainiest places in the world), a dayhike can bring you to the ridgelines of the Olympic Mountains or wandering some of the most impressive beaches of the coast.


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